Tuesday, February 02, 2010

the Good Stuff in The Brew Lounge at Iron Hill on Saturday at BCtWC

I promised you some more information about Saturday's BCtWC event at Iron Hill in West Chester and the special tasting room called The Brew Lounge. I'd planned on coming up with some clever words to describe the doings in this so-called brew lounge. But, I'm at a loss right now and time's a ticking on. The Dogfish Head dinner at Monk's awaits and I need to at least get you some new information.
So at the risk of taking the laziest route possible to achieving this end, here are the 4 special beers being poured in The Brew Lounge on Saturday at Iron Hill in West Chester. The descriptions are in the words of brewers Larry Horwitz and Jean Broillet...like I said, I took the lazy road on this one. But, I think you'll agree that these beers live up to their respective backstories.
Stay tuned later this week, I may have more information and the promise of yet even more antics and special beers to come for The Brew Lounge.
Du Armand
A Tribute to Armand Debelder, master blender and former master brewer of beautiful Lambic style beers at Drie Fonteinen. Armand’s family has beer offering stunning products since 1953. This year he announced that they would no longer be brewing but only blending. A sad day indeed since Armand’s artful touch in the brewhouse allowed him to make beers worthy of Heaven.
We’ve managed to lay our hands on a very special strain of Brettanomyces that seems to be found only in the family brewery at Fonteinen. We used it to barrel-ferment a beer made from 100% pale malt with a touch of sugar adjunct. Despite the simple recipe the beer is un-endingly complex, explosively fruity with the aroma for tangerine and musty wildflower honey. Very dry with a touch of oak in the finish. A fine tribute to our friend. May his mash tun rest in peace.
Note: A small portion of the proceeds from this beer will be used by the Iron Hill Brewery staff to purchase Drie Fonteinen beer before it’s gone forever. And yes, we plan to drink it. wouldn’t you? Brewer’s charity for sure.
11.8°P
15 IBUs
5.5% ABV
Au Ciel
My lord, has our barrel collection grown! We currently house 12 in our humble little brewery. In the interest of saving space, we’ve been stacking them, and they’re now three high! That may not seem like a big deal, but trust me. When you are up on a ladder trying to juggle a hose, a bucket, noxious chemicals / wild yeast / bungs, it’s a touch scary. We like to say, "It’s not the fall so much as the sudden stop on the keg cleaner!" In any case, this is the beer on the top level of the racks. It is almost literally "In Heaven". The beer is strong and has undergone two fermentations. Primary with Trappist yeast and a secondary in wood with wild yeast.
20.0°P
35 IBUs
9.0% ABV
Biere de Mars
A French farmhouse style ale brewed to celebrate the arrival of spring. This orange-hued beer is unfiltered, cellared for some time, and brewed with wheat and aromatic malts. The sweet bready flavors complement aromas of melon and white pepper.
14.0°P
20 IBUs
6.0% ABV
Self/Titled
Many moons ago a monstrous hop-bomb of a beer ruled the taps here at Iron Hill W.C. In an attempt to contain this beast, we quarantined some of the most recent batch within the confines of a used wine barrel. Two months later a true oddball of an ale emerged. No longer the sharp-toothed leviathan it once was, S/T still retains the original bitter and citrusy hop edge of the Zilla, but those notes are now intertwined with a lush oaky/vanilla presence and a slight funky/earthiness from the extended (3 month) aging in wood.
15.0°P
75 IBUs
8.0% ABV
Made up your mind yet? Still need a reason to head to West Chester on Saturday, 2/6?